Dark Rose Valkyrie

Dark Rose Valkyrie is a classic jRPG set in an alternative reality, in which humanity fights monsters created by an extraterrestrial virus. The game's developer is the Japanese studio Compile Heart, best known for its Hyperdimension Neptune series and many other jRPGs inspired by it. Two key artists of the popular Tales of series took part in the work on the title as guests, the designer Kosuke Fujishima and the screenwriter Takumi Miyajima.

Story

The story presented in Dark Rose Valkyrie takes place in an alternative reality, in which a meteorite containing an extraterrestrial virus fell to Earth in 1929. People infected by the virus turn into terrifying creatures commonly known as Chimeras. In a short period of time, nearly three percent of the world's population become a victim of the virus. In response to the threat, Japan has closed its borders and created a special strike force with unique weapons to combat the Chimeras. The players take on the role of Captain Asahi Shiramine commanding one of the units fighting the monsters. His duties include supervising his subordinate, who may be dormant agents of Chimera, which will hit their comrades in arms at the most unexpected moment.

Mechanics

Dark Rose Valkyrie is reminiscent in many ways of other games by Compile Heart. We lead a team of several people, traversing large, but devoid of NPC or the ability to interact with the environment, three-dimensional locations, depicting various types of underground or building interiors. We have a base where we buy new equipment and receive new missions from our superiors. Battles take place in separate arenas after making contact with enemies moving around the map. The fights take place in turn-based mode. The players can influence the order of attacks by using special skills and combos to slow down the opponents.

Much of the interactions between the characters is presented in a form known from visual novels. An essential part of Dark Rose Valkyrie is a system of conversations with subordinates, in which by asking questions we try to discover and then decide which member of the unit is the traitor. The game randomly selects a double agent each time a new game starts.

Technical aspects

Audiovisuals of Dark Rose Valkyrie do not differ from the standards set by other Compile Heart games. So we are dealing with decent three-dimensional visuals at best, devoid of any advanced tricks and effects, to which we are accustomed by high-budget representatives of the genre. However, the strengths of the game remain the designs and two-dimensional portraits of characters by the aforementioned Kosuke Fujishima.

Last updated on 15 November 2017